The most visible genocide in history continues as Israel drops bomb after bomb on Palestinian families while they starve in refugee camps, schools, homes, and hospitals. The Lancet, one of the highest-impact academic journals in the world, estimates Israel has killed more than 186,000 Palestinians since October 2023. Carpet bombings, deliberate starvation campaigns, and snipering of children have compelled Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the ICJ to accuse Israel of committing genocide.

Today, Gaza has the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world. Since 2023, Israeli forces have killed at least 460 aid workers, 1,000 medical staff, and 232 journalists. And thousands of Palestinians face torture and sexual abuse in prisons where systemic assaults by soldiers are well-doucmented, just as they were decades earlier.

With $4 billion of U.S. taxpayer dollars sent to Israel in March 2025 and another $8 billion approved by the Trump admin, America continues to support and perpetuate this genocide. Even at U.S.-backed food distribution sites, Israeli forces are shooting starving Palestinians waiting for aid: A UN report from June 2025 finds Israel has killed 400 people at these aid sites alone since May 27.

To further limit aid in Gaza, Israel also banned UNRWA, a UN agency, on January 30, 2025. UNRWA was created to support Palestinians who were forcibly removed from their homeland by the creation of Israel. Despite Israel’s ban, UNRWA is continuing its humanitarian work as much as possible. Please consider giving, especially in light of Trump’s desire to ethnically cleanse Gaza.

Donald Trump appears to have just learned who Frederick Douglass is.

At a roundtable meeting with African American leaders to commemorate Black History Month, Trump said, “I am very proud now that we have a museum on the National Mall where people can learn about Rev. [Martin Luther] King, so many other things, Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who has done an amazing job that is being recognized more and more, I noticed.”

Good news, Frederick Douglass, you’re finally famous! If a 70-year-old billionaire who appears to be the embodiment of YouTube comments in human form actually acknowledges your existence, then you’ve made it bigly, right?

Common knowledge to the rest of us recalls Douglass being a freed slave from the 19th century whose famous speeches and writings helped persuade thousands to abolish slavery across the country. Most, if not all of us, have read at least one of his books or speeches sometime in our education.

Or, at the very least, most of us are aware that a man named Frederick Douglass existed sometime in American history a long time ago, if nothing else.

Trump clearly didn’t stay awake in his high school history classes. So why is this so bad?

Because he didn’t stop there.

At this meeting dedicated to recognizing the triumphs and ongoing challenges the black community has faced since this country’s inception, the leader of the free world took time out of this humbling occasion to complain about the free press in the U.S.

Trump is referring to a tweet CNN reporter Zeke Miller posted saying the bust of MLK was removed from the Oval Office. Miller quickly corrected his mistake within a few hours of the first tweet. And that should’ve been the end of it.

But Trump just couldn’t live and let live. So instead of smiling politely and listening to the concerns of these national leaders, Trump showed his true colors.

And they’re not red, white and blue.

Shari Rose

Shari Rose

Owner of Blurred Bylines

I created Blurred Bylines in an effort to bring stories from marginalized perspectives into the national conversation. As a former copy editor at the largest newspapers in Arizona and Colorado, I’ve seen first-hand the potential of accurate and accessible information to change minds and affect national policy. 

My stories focus on individuals fighting for justice and their own rights as Americans, survivors of violent crime who rebuilt their lives after tragedy, shifting political trends that seek to strip the LGBTQ+ community and other minority groups of their freedoms, and forgotten figures in U.S. history whose fights for equality persist today.

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